Thou Art That🔗

17.23 'Oṁ Tat Sat' is said to be the threefold name of the Eternal Being (Brahma). Persons with good (brahmanic) qualities, the Vedas, and the selfless service (seva, yajña) were created by and from Brahma in the ancient times.

17.24 Therefore, acts of sacrifice, charity, and austerity prescribed in the scriptures are always commenced by uttering 'OM' by the knowers of the supreme being.

17.25 Various types of sacrifice, charity, and austerity are performed by the seekers of liberation by uttering 'Tat' (or He is all) without seeking a reward.

17.26 The word 'Sat' is used in the sense of Reality and goodness. The word 'Sat' is also used for an auspicious act, O Arjuna.

17.27 Sincerity in sacrifice, charity, and austerity is also called 'Sat'. Selfless service for the sake of the supreme is, in truth, termed as 'Sat'.

17.28 Whatever is done without sincerity, whether it is sacrifice, charity, austerity, or any other act is called 'Asat'. It has no value here or hereafter, O Arjuna.

In conclusion, Krishna moves on to a different plane altogether.

So far He explained sacrifice, austerity and charity. He clarified what needs to be done and how. He spelled out the different modes based on the nature of people in relation to performing sacrifice, austerity and charity.

Please understand that all kinds of food, penance, sacrifice or charity fall into the basic three categories explained by Krishna - satvic, rajasic and tamasic. These translate as the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance. But the important thing is that as long as they are done in the materialistic world, they are conditioned.

When they are done with the attitude of gratitude to the Divine and Existence, only then you encounter spiritual progress or spiritual elevation. Our scriptures explain that anything done in the nature of rajas or tamas cannot give the ultimate result. Only the act done in the attitude of satva or goodness gives the final result. One who does such acts without this awareness has temporary results but not the final result.

In the days of Mahabharata, sacrificial rituals were a part and parcel of daily life. This is not the case today. The brāhmaṇas (highly learned sect of people) were the keepers of the sacred knowledge that connected the physical ritual with the metaphysical truth expressed by the great sages in the Vedas. They were the keepers of the flame, in a real sense, since most vedic rituals invoked and addressed the fire energy. Sacrifices were directed towards elemental energies and celestial beings. Austerity was directed towards your own self. Charity was directed towards those around you.

The brāhmaṇas were expected to lead an austere and charitable life in keeping with the spirit of their profession. In this chapter Krishna elaborates on these concepts so that everyone can move forward on the path to liberation. It is not only for the brāhmaṇas, it is also for kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras - the other castes. Any member of any caste is qualified for liberation if he follows these principles. Liberation has nothing to do with birth.

The prime requirement is sincerity, śraddha. Śraddha refers as well to the understanding that sacrifice, austerity or charity is not directed towards oneself or a material goal. They are directed to the supreme consciousness.

In the last three verses Krishna provides the technique to achieve this transfer of focus from self to Self. He provides the method by which anyone can surrender the results of his activities, the fruits of his action (called karma phala) to the Divine. He provides the tool in the form of the invocation, Oṁ Tat Sat.

The three words Oṁ Tat Sat are the words of the Divine — Om iti etat brahmano nedisthaṁ namaḥ, shows the first goal, the beginning. Tat tvam asi indicates the second goal, the continuation. Sat eva saumya is the third goal or final result. All three combined give the words Oṁ Tat Sat.

This is why these words have such great importance or significance. Any person doing charity or work with the attitude of addressing Oṁ Tat Sat will be with Existence, the divine consciousness.

These three words simply imply: 'I offer all to that Truth. I surrender everything to that Divine. Let that be the Truth.' This is the mahā vākya, the great truth, handed down by the master to Arjuna as the technique to ensure sincerity in all activities of sacrifice, austerity and charity.

Please understand that any action, whether penance, charity or sacrifice, has no meaning when the purpose is not to achieve the Ultimate, the Divine.

The final aim in all the Vedas is to gain the experience of Krishna or the supreme consciousness. No success, fulfillment or happiness is possible without following this principle.

The guru or spiritual master is the only being who can help you and guide you to make your life successful and fulfilled.

Understand, people are conditioned to worship all kinds of deities or demi-gods or spirits right from birth. This is simply because their nature is from one of the three guṇas. Among the three guṇas, satva guṇa is considered the best and higher than the other guṇas, namely rajas and tamas. But the path of achieving the ultimate consciousness, the understanding of Krishna, goes beyond and transcends all three guṇas.

This is where the role of a guru or spiritual master is important. He directs and leads you on the path of proper understanding for an experience of the ultimate consciousness. Such an understanding, such a perception, leads to faith and ultimately to love of the Divine. This is the purpose and final goal of life.

Let us all pray to Parabrahma Krishna with all sincerity to give us the experience of this chapter of the Gita that leads to attainment of the ultimate consciousness, nityānanda!

Q: Swamiji, you said that if we give importance to negative thoughts, saṁskāras get embedded in the unconscious zone. Please could you explain further. Vaastu consultants recommend changes in home for improving positive energy, balance and if we can't do it, then what?

If you can't do it, then forget about it. Nothing wrong.

You see, if you give importance to vastu, vāstu automatically becomes alright. Vastu means consciousness. Change vastu, then vāstu automatically changes. Vāstu is a great science of enclosing the ether energy in the optimum way in the structure of your homes or other buildings. But nowadays, so many unnecessary rules have been added to it and it has gone to extreme foolishness. So whatever you can do, do, otherwise don't bother, just change the vastu. That is enough! Changing vastu automatically changes vāstu.

Just bother about vastu, then vāstu automatically takes care of itself.

I tell people, vāstu is one or two volts of electricity. Vastu is 1000 volts of electricity! Just change the vastu and vāstu will change. I have spoken extensively on vāstu and the science of outer space and inner space in the lecture, From Place to Space.

If you are interested in vāstu, I have given scientific explanations in that discourse. I reveal how vāstu is a science as well as how you can change vāstu and balance the energies without changing anything in the house. If you have interest in vāstu, listen to the discourse From Place to Space for more details.

Q: Swamiji, the other day you talked about the question on birth, meditation and liberation, and this whole life cycle of saṁsāra. The answer was not given. Could you please provide the answer?

Understand, I spoke about the question so that you would think about it. The question cannot be answered. The question is a technique to create seeking or quest in your being. The question is not supposed to be answered. You must find your own answer. Ātman or Divine is the answer. However, with this word what will you understand?

Is the questioner here today? Tell me. The reason for birth, meditation and liberation is consciousness, Divine, God. Now I have answered. What have you understood?

Nothing, one more word, that's all. At the most, you can look up the meaning of the words in the Oxford Dictionary and face more confusion, nothing else. Understand, the question cannot be answered. You must experiment with this question. May you contemplate on this question. May you be disturbed by this question! Then you will achieve the state wherein you will never be disturbed by anything!

Q: Dear Swamiji, will a mother's prayers work for her children?

Not only for her children, it can work for the whole world. You can pray for the whole world. It will work.

Q: How can we differentiate between intuitive and impulsive decisions? In this information age, one's decision directly or indirectly impacts many people. Can you kindly help us understand this?

The moment you doubt whether it is an intuitive decision or an impulsive decision, you can be sure that it is an impulsive decision. Intuition does not leave any doubt.

If your decision within a group is based upon intuition, you will also have tremendous power to convince and lead the whole group. You will not only have the decision, you will have the power to execute the decision as well. You will have both in your life.

Q: All enlightened masters I have heard about left home for at least a number of years to experience enlightenment. Is this necessary? If not, why did they do it?

They did it to understand that it is unnecessary. What to do? Unless you do it, you don't understand that it is not necessary. People ask me, 'Swamiji, you did so much penance and became enlightened. Should we also do penance?'

Please understand, I tell you the honest truth. I did so much penance because I did not know.

For you there is no need.

Understand this simple analogy. There is one lock and ten thousand keys. I did not know which key would open the lock, so I worked with all ten thousand keys. One by one, I experimented. Suddenly one key opened the lock. Opening the lock did not take time. Experimenting with ten thousand keys took me ten years. Understand that opening took me one second, but experimenting with ten thousand keys took ten years of penance.

Why should you experiment with the ten thousand keys? Here I am giving you the right set of keys. You can straightaway open the lock and experience! There is no need to waste your whole life with ten thousand keys. I had to do it because I did not have the right person to tell me, 'This is the key. Take it and open the lock.'

For that reason, I had to play with all ten thousand keys until the lock opened. For you there is no need. Why waste your life playing with ten thousand keys? You neither have the time nor the energy. Here I am, straightaway giving you the key.

I have given you the best keys. Straightaway use them. Open the lock. You will open it in a second. Open the door and enjoy the fresh air that is in your consciousness.

In these discourses, I have given you at least ten or twelve keys. Take up any key and work with it. You will open the door and experience the ultimate Truth!

Q: When everything is divine in this universe, how can there be good and bad, happiness and sadness, lower level and upper level, jīvātma (individual self) and paramātma (supreme Self), permanent and impermanent, etc. Is it not true only in the eyes of the perceiver?

True. Only in the eyes of the perceiver is there good and bad. In reality, there is no good and bad. Reality is beyond the duality of good and bad. Be very clear, when you achieve that state, there is no good and bad. There is something called good and bad only on the normal, material level.

Q: Respected Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda, my love and pranāms to you, Kindly answer these questions now or at such time as you feel appropriate. If God is at such a high vibration, as to be unaware of deaths caused by catastrophes, just as a SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle) is unaware of the ants it crushes, then does it not follow that God does not hear our cries for help, when we are swept up in these catastrophes? And if that is the case, do our prayers reach God?

(Background: This question arises from an earlier question when a person asked why so many die in natural disasters. Nithyananda replied: Nature is unaware that people are dying in a tsunami or earthquake. It is like you driving a SUV over an anthill. Thousands of ants die. Do you notice? Your frequency is different from the ants. In the same way, Nature's frequency is different from ours.)

Nice question. Understand, when I said there is a difference in the frequencies of ants, man and God, I didn't mean that your prayers don't reach God. The reactions will not be as you expect, that's all.

It is unlike the Vithalacharya Telugu movies where a brilliant laser-like light comes out of the hands of Vishnu or Krishna. Whoosh! It falls on an eighty-year-old woman and she suddenly becomes eighteen and exclaims, 'Ah, what happened to me? I have become a new person!'

Please do not expect that. When I say that God's frequency is different, do not compare it to those kinds of movies where you suddenly open your eyes and see everything as new. No!

Understand that when you have faith, Existence responds using the form of the Guru, the form of the master.

If ten thousand people are having my darśan at a time, in their own places around the world, they see me as a vision. I can become aware of these darśans if I want to download that information. But as of now, I am using the mind for this work of talking to you, not to perceive anything else.

For example, here is a watch and a file on this table. If I look I can see the watch. But I am not looking at the watch right now so I do not know the time. However, at any moment if I want, I can see the time.

There are various statues around you in this hall. Because I am seeing you now, I do not see the statues. It is not that I can't see them. In a single moment, I can see them. In the same way, it is not that I can't know about who is receiving my darśan. This moment, if I close my eyes I can know; however, right now I am using my mind only to see you, that's all.

One more thing, why did I say it is not in the master's control? Actually your sincerity plays a role. When you are insincere, even God cannot help you. For example, if you need to be rescued from drowning, at least you must stretch out your hand. Otherwise, you will pull in the person rescuing you also.

Here, understand that your perceived answers are not merely the product of your ideas. No! Your perceived answers are from the master, from the Divine.

Because of your trust, you get the vision, the darśan. Otherwise, people will ask for darśan and it will become like a profession. You must have tremendous surrender to experience darśan, to have visions.

Masters can know about the darśan the moment they want to know. It is not that they are unaware of it. So please be very clear, it is a whole, complete and conscious process. But generally, at least with me, I don't interfere in the work of Existence. If it happens, it happens, that's all.

People tell me, ‘Swamiji, I saw you in a dream. You healed and helped me.’

I tell them, ‘Not me, it was Existence. It was your faith in the Divine. Existence used my form to help you.’

As long as I understand these words ‘I am not’, Existence will use my form to help you. The moment I think ‘I am’ this form will be thrown in the trashcan.

As long as you are out, God stays in your house. The moment you enter, God leaves. If we don't live in our body, the Divine will live in it, using our form.

I can say only one thing. Because I vacated this house, Existence is using this house to bless you, that's all.

I have vacated, I have given this house to Existence without collecting rent! I have asked Existence to stay without collecting rent. So the Divine is using this form.

People tell me, ‘I have become alright. I had your darśan. You gave me the answer. It is all your grace.’

I tell them, ‘No, your deep sincere trust and faith towards the master, God or guru has guided you.’

The other day someone came to me, a person deeply dedicated to Paramahamsa Yogananda, a great master who lived in Los Angeles. This person has been doing Kriya Yoga for many years. Suddenly one day he was sitting and weeping and praying to Yogananda, ‘Please show me a living master.’

He told me, ‘Yogananda gave me darśan and gave me your website id, Swamiji: www.dhyanapeetam.org. He asked me to go and see the website!’

That's a strange thing! He said, 'I went to your website and saw you. I immediately felt connected and came to meet you.' He told me, 'It is only through your grace that it happened.'

I said, 'No, It was your faith towards Paramahamsa Yogananda.'

Your master shows you the living master. Sometimes masters who have left the body guide you to the living master.

There are so many such related incidents. One person was praying to Yogananda, at his Jīva samādhi (enlightened master's final resting place), asking him to show a living master. Suddenly for no reason, I went there with a group of people. He saw me and came to me. When I put my hand on his head and blessed him, he suddenly entered into ecstasy and tears started pouring. He was in the same mood for several hours.

He told me, 'Twelve years ago I meditated with Paramahamsa Yogananda's technique the first time. That same experience repeated today.'

Masters who have left their body always guide disciples to living masters.

I tell people, never think you need to spread my name. So many people, my marketing agents, are already there! Paramahamsa Yogananda, Ramakrishna, Mahavatar Babaji and the likes are driving the mission. Nothing else needs to be done.

Q: If Ātman or Self is created or is svayambhu (self-created), why was the body required for its movement?

Ātman is svayambhu. Body is not required for Ātman. Please be clear, the body requires Ātman. Ātman does not require the body. Someone tells Ramana Maharshi, 'Bhagavan, six rupees per month is enough to live in Arunachala. (In those days, six rupees was a big amount). Six rupees is enough per month and I can do ātma- sādhanā (self-enquiry).'

Bhagavan says, 'Fool, in order to live, even body and mind are unnecessary.' Only body needs Ātman. Ātman does not need the body.

Q: If Ātman is not creating karma, and body is creating karma, then Ātman is only the carrier of karma. Is this true?

Ātman is not even a carrier of karma. The seven subtle bodies that we discussed yesterday are carrying the karma. Ātman doesn't carry karma.

Q: Like Arjuna, I have my own battle to fight, but instead of it being the Mahabharata, it is the 'Law School Court Competition'. I know what must be done, but I lack the focus and energy to accomplish that. Do I lack sincerity? How do I build it?

Nice question. Just don't bother. Relax and do it. The Divine will take care. This question is answered for the questioner and not the question.

Q: Ātman is indestructible, so it is everlasting. From where did it originate? If Īśvara/Ātman/God is regulating, is it the same Īśvara who made Ātman?

Please understand, Ātman, Īśvara, Paramātman are different trademarks, that's all. Just like the same pizza is sold in different shops, they are different trademarks. It is the same experience but different words are used such as Ātman, God or Paramātman.

Eat one pizza; that's enough! One divine experience is enough. Nothing else is necessary.

Q: Dear Swamiji, I have attended your discourses since Sunday. When I am in your presence I feel blissful. I feel lost in your presence. I feel like I have fallen in love with you, in a pure way. I then go home, and dream of you. It is sometimes hard to distinguish if I am at your discourse or dreaming.

The problem is that my sensitivity has heightened so much that my emotions are like a seesaw, going up and down constantly. For example, I lose my temper with crazy drivers. I find it hard to have compassion for selfish people. I feel lonely and am unable to fit in with anyone. I find it difficult to have a conversation with people as I did before. These days I feel like being alone and quiet. Does this mean I have too many engrams in my seven bodies?

Also I feel sad that your discourse will be over soon, but my heart feels full of life. How can I deal with these negativities?

Please understand that in the initial level there will be a little struggle. However, when you grow in sensitivity, you will feel compassionate towards everybody. When you also feel compassionate towards selfish people, your compassion is fulfilled.

Accept people as they are, even if they don't accept you as you are. That happens when you grow in maturity.

Of course this is one phase. This is a good phase, nothing wrong. You are growing, but this is not the end. Go deep and you will experience.

Q: You said earlier that smṛti is alterable and it changes with time. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna talks about the caste system and who can be a brāhmaṇa etc. But in India we have so many problems with the caste system. So, if smṛti is properly interpreted, it should not give rise to any problems. Am I correct?

This is an important question. Let us analyze this.

First, our smṛti, especially the Bhagavad Gita, state that caste is based upon a person's mental setup and not upon one's birth. It is based on the karma, unfulfilled actions of the person that pull him to fulfill them.

The system is based on the mental setup of the person, not on the birth.

So why should the caste system be created, even based on mental setup? Human beings cannot live without a community system. People must feel they belong to a group. We cannot straightaway tell people to feel connected to the whole universe. That happens only after enlightenment. Until that time, they need to feel that they belong to a particular community.

For that reason, the masters decided, ‘Let us create a community system base whereby people will grow.’ In India, the community system is based upon wisdom and intelligence. Importance is given to intelligence.

The person who works for the sake of the wellbeing of others, who does his work as a service, is a brāhmaṇa. A brāhmaṇa shares knowledge or wisdom. The person who works out of fear in order to protect himself or people whom he considers his own is a kṣatriya. The person who works out of greed, to acquire more wealth, is a vaiśya. The person who works to serve the other groups in order to satisfy his hunger and thirst, also working primarily for himself, is a sūdra.

This is the way masters created the community system - based upon intelligence and not birth. In the course of time, just like all truths, this truth was somehow lost.

One more thing: for any great experiments, any great innovation, if the next generation does not continue good research and development (R&D), the researches end in failure. Somehow our R&D department was not strong enough. It has failed.

That is the reason we started associating ourselves with birth instead of mental setups. But at least the Indian community was created based upon intelligence. Other countries' created communities based upon money. One small example: get into a commercial aircraft and walk through the first-class seats to go to the economy class. Tell me, how do the first-class passengers look at you? It is the same way as the fanatic higher-class person looks at a lower-class person!

In every country, the community or caste system exists. Never say that the caste system exists only in India. India bases the societal division upon intelligence. Other countries base it on money and power.

In India, the whole importance goes to intelligence. If we want to be considered a higher person, we must study. If we want the highest social respect, we must renounce and become intelligent. That's why in Tamil they say, turavikku vaenthanum turumbu. 'Even a king will come and touch a sanyāsi's (sage) feet, even though the sanyāsi has nothing to give.' He has one thing: intelligence and wisdom that he shares with the world.

In India, even if the community system has degraded, the original system was created based on intelligence, not on money or power. Respect is given to the person carrying the wisdom, the wealth of knowledge, and not outer worldly wealth.

One more thing: Just because it is degraded today because of a few people, we cannot condemn the original caste system. Just because some mistake happened at some point in time, we cannot condemn the whole system. The system has helped us in many ways.

Let us clear the system of its corruption with respect and gratitude. Why should we continuously condemn and weaken ourselves? If someone has a tumor in his hand, let us do a surgery and take out the tumor. Why should we kill that person instead? Similarly, we acquired the tumor, that is misunderstanding. Let us analyze and clear it. There is no need to condemn the whole system instead.

We need to look into these things with a little more love and compassion.

Please understand: Because one community associated themselves with the scriptures, the scriptures are still alive. They were preserved because one community took the responsibility. They gave up outer comforts. They gave up everything in the outer world. They dedicated their time, energy and effort to recite and preserve the scriptures. Indian scriptures are the oldest scriptures. They are preserved in an authentic way - without any system, no other way to record, no other way to transmit, no other way to preserve - just by repeating and memorizing. Hundreds of thousands of verses and millions of aphorisms are preserved because of the dedication of one community. So our system is not entirely wrong; just a few small corruptions have entered, that's all.

All we need is some surgery for these tumors, for these corruptions. We need not kill the system. When we have the attitude of killing, we not only kill the system, we also kill ourselves.

Even though we might not understand the system, we might not believe it, we might not accept it, we still belong to that system. So, go for surgery, not for murder. That is the right attitude.

Q: There are great ideals in spirituality. What bothers me is that I find a divergence between the ideals and daily life. There is not only caste discrimination, but there are also a variety of other discriminations such as the discrimination against poor people. When a maid comes to work in the house, and she is ten years old and is missing school, my heart aches. That will not happen in the West. I'm not defending the West, but we must be cautious when we make statements about the West. Yes, ours is a great religion. I have great love for it, but have we updated it? Have we moved with time? Whose responsibility is it to make sure we continuously update religion? I also find a great love for materialism, which is against the laws of Hinduism. It is not enough if just great men like you practice the religious ideals, it should be possible for the common man to practice it. How can we say that we have spiritual freedom in the East and not in the West? We need to look at what we mean by spiritual freedom.

First, regarding the statements that you made: are they your conclusions or questions? If they are your questions, I am here to answer. If they are your conclusions, I have no right to answer.

Second: you made a statement about the poor girl working and missing school. Please understand, just because of our religion, our population avoids so much misery and suffering.

Look into the history of the other parts of the world. Their population is ten times less, yet there is more violence. Our people are silent, beautiful, accepting poverty, accepting disease and accepting everything, because of our spiritual background.

One more thing: you said that I must be careful when I make comments. In the beginning I said clearly, when I want to show the uniqueness or extraordinary nature of a culture, I must compare a few things. Please don't feel hurt.

I have to say a few things when I represent the truth. I am not here to condemn anything. I am here to show the truth as it is, to explain the facts as they are. I am clear and I reinforce the letter and spirit of the statements that I make.

The next thing: India handles many problems because the common mass of India follows spiritual principles. Please don't expect the mass of India to become enlightened. I tell you one thing: Talk to any farmer in any Indian village. You will find that he knows more about spirituality and religion than any professor of philosophy from another country. Because they practice religion, our people do not rebel. They are nonviolent, even after experiencing suppression, poverty and disease.

In contrast, look at life in some other countries. For instance, if somebody is homeless, do we go near him? We fear him. We don't even lower our car window. We know he can harm us. But in India if a beggar comes, do we feel disturbed? Do we feel threatened? No!

In some countries, I am advised: ‘if a lower-class guy comes near the car, do not lower your window. He may be violent.’ But in India a homeless person is nonviolent. Violence is not associated with poverty. Poverty is not a sin in the Indian constitution, in the Indian system. Poverty is either handled with compassion or it is neglected. In other systems, poverty is a sin. With poverty, we have no right to exist in society. If we penetrate deeply and look into social systems, the gangsters and the homeless continuously rebel against rich people. They are continuously into terrorist activities. If we compare on a per-individual basis, we do not see this in India on the scale that we see in other countries. It may be less than one percent.

Rebelliousness against the rich is less in India because of spiritual ideas such as karma, accepting that life and the whole world is nothing, etc. These concepts are infused into our system more than any other society. Poverty in a way is respected in our country. The educated society respects poverty and a simple way of life.

In India when a beggar stands near us, we either give him money or ignore him. We don't disrespect him because he is poor. If we didn't give him money, we feel a little guilty. Either we do something or we carry guilt that we did not do what we were supposed to do. Even that guilt is the offshoot of spirituality.

And one more thing: In India, whether we want it or not, whether we believe it or not, these type of ideas are continuously put into our head. We are made to continuously listen to something about spirituality. When we take into account India's large population, we have surely done a great job. I applaud the job done by our people. What a variety of languages and cultures India handles!

I travel around the world continuously. Last year, I flew almost two hundred thousand miles. When I visit different countries, I don't find the large variety of languages, clothes and food that exists in India. The difference between Europe and America is less than the difference between Karnataka and Tamilnadu (neighboring states in India).

India exists as a country without any problems just because of the religious faith and structure.

Please be very clear that we are already doing a good job. Don't think we need to go from bad to good. We must go from good to better. We have condemned ourselves for so long. It is time to stand up! We are not in bad shape. We are in good shape. We just need to get into better shape!

One more consideration: At least the main problems of caste system do not exist in present-day India. Enough of culture and acceptance has spread around the country. We should not speak about India with data that we have collected about thirty years ago.

Today, practically every village has an educational and medical facility, as well as some understanding about life. India has improved, especially after the new way of life and social service started spreading around the country, helped by the post-Vivekananda movements that serve the society.

I don’t want to go into minute details. Please go into this deeply and see. We don’t even hear of many types of crimes these days.

In India all the houses are open. Kids move around wherever they want. At least in my village, I used to enter into any house and eat. Hardly a few hundred houses and I could enter any home and eat because that is the way we lived.

Wherever child abuse and all these things occur in India, it is a lower percentage compared to the total volume of people. And the next thing, these kinds of crimes have increased only where television has entered.

In the past and in the present, we have done a great job. Of course we can do better, no doubt, but we don’t need to feel worthless. Sometimes, our guilt that we have not achieved what we want is projected on society and we collect data that supports our guilt and project a picture. If we stand on the platform of truth and analyze, we will know the truth.

You say that some ten-year old girl is working, etc. You can collect data from wherever you want. I see many young girls working in houses in other countries. Of course, the age is a little higher, that’s all!

And you talk about education. Even after education, what do they do? Why are there so many gangsters? Even the idea of a gangster doesn’t exist in India. In India a crime is done for the sake of money or benefit. There are three kinds of crimes: crimes done for the benefit of the world, crimes done to have direct benefit by robbing the person and crimes done for no reason other than the sake of enjoyment.

This third-level of crime is practically non-existent in India. We hear about many gangsters and crimes done for the sake of enjoyment in other countries, such as shooting in the highways, etc. I have never heard of such crimes in India. People only shoot and kill for some benefit. But other countries have so much third-level crime because of deep depression and rebellious consciousness, ‘Why should the other person have something while I don’t?’ In India, people don’t say: ‘Why should he have and why don’t I have?’ The third-level of crime is tamasic (indolence) and practically absent in India.

The media also plays a major role in creating misconceptions.

For nine years, I walked the length and breadth of India without touching money. Actually this experiment is called parivrājaka in Sanskrit. It is supposed to be done as a vow by spiritual teachers to understand the common life of the country. You are given a rule that you should not touch money or preserve food for the next meal. For nine years, I lived like this. I am a healthy young person. Yet for nine years, I did not work for my food, clothes or shelter. I was just meditating and doing research on the inner world science. I was given food, clothes and shelter with respect.

Where else could this happen? Any other country would have asked me to work or put me in a homeless shelter with disrespect. I was given everything - not just in one village but in every village. I walked from Kanyakumari to Tapovan, from the southern end of India to the north, from Akshardham to Ganga Sagar, from the west to the east. The people of every village had love and respect for our truths, our wisdom and our spiritual practices. Above all, even if they were unable to practice it, they had tremendous respect for people who practiced it. That in itself is a great thing!

When we respect someone who practices, we imbibe truth in our own lives.

The respect for our hero makes us imbibe his qualities in our life. I have seen so much bhakti (devotion) in some villages, especially in Gujarat (a state in north-west India).

Once I traveled from Akshardham (a town in Gujarat) and I stayed in a village. An elderly lady invited me to her house. Her only property was a cow and a hut. From the cow's milk, she made curds and sold it to support herself. I stayed with her for ten days. She had a small Krishna idol. She lived with that Krishna. She talked to that Krishna. Everyday she sold her milk and offered the money at Krishna's feet and told Krishna her complaints: 'Today that fellow did not give me the money. He cheated me. Today I got more milk.' She just lived with Krishna!

After ten days, I told her that I was leaving to have the darśan (worship) of Somnath (Shiva Temple in Gujarat).

She asked, 'Why are you leaving? I will not ask you to work. I will always feed you. Please stay with me. You don't need to work.'

See the love!

I became emotional and said, 'Ma, it is because of people like you that India is alive.'

I know the backbone of India. Don't speak from the superficial skin and sweat of India. Speak to me from the backbone! The media portrays only the sweat smell, not the backbone. I have seen this in every village. Every village I either walked through or sometimes used a bullock cart (cart drawn by bulls), covering several thousand miles! I know the backbone. The media is sensational. They need sensations to show people. I can relate a thousand incidents to show otherwise.

You can quote one ten-year old working without going to school. I can quote millions of people who give education to others who cannot afford it. Only in India, charitable educational institutions give free education to many people. More than forty three percent of education is given to people by religious charitable institutions. In no other country is so much education given by charitable institutions!

One thing to note when it comes to percentage is the quantity. Another country's one hundred percent is India's five percent! See the quantity. I know how many thousands of people are given education free of cost in India. At least in the last fifty years, we have done a tremendous job, especially the post-Vivekananda movements. I am the very proof! So many houses are ready to give food. So many villages are ready to take care of spiritual truths just because of this saffron cloth that I am wearing.

And remember: I may have been a robber or a thief. There were many possibilities because I was new to that village. We have media and televisions in the villages also. The people are aware of criminals coming in disguises and committing crimes. But beyond all these things, the spirit and culture are alive. They still entertained me!

I was in the Himalayas one week ago. We saw thousands of sanyāsīs wandering like I did, not caring about the next meal. These people who are taken care of by society prove that we respect and follow the religious ideals. We have done a great job when we consider the size of the population.

When I return to my country after traveling all over the world, I feel gratitude to the culture and the country in which I was born and brought up.

Let me tell you: When premature babies are born, we need an incubator to keep the baby healthy. Like that, India is a spiritual incubator. Indian culture is a spiritual incubator. We may say there are one or two holes here and there but still it is a usable and working spiritual incubator.

Q: I have a comment to make from Vivekananda's words: 'If only we can combine the spiritual wisdom of the East and the material wealth of the West.'

Yes, I am all for progress. I am not for condemning!

Please be clear: We have not done anything wrong!

Please understand that only on the full moon can we see the black patches on the moon. We can't see the patches on a new moon. By its own light, the moon shows its black patches. By its own glory, India shows its problems.

Because we have the ideal of perfection, we understand and realize our problems. The moment we understand our problems, we prove that we are great. That is proof that we are intelligent.

Why do we say that we have a problem? Because we have the ideal of perfectionism! That shows we have achieved great things. The idea of perfectionism reaching a billion people is a great job!

Understand: even people in the lowest slum celebrate Vinayaka Chaturti and Durga Pūjā (festivals in honor of Hindu Gods). They may not know the spiritual ideal of Vinayaka (Ganesha, the Hindu deity), but they know there is some energy greater than us. That is why they have simple rules like bowing down to that energy. Reaching even the most deluded and the lowest rung within a population of a billion people is not a joke. Understand that that itself is a big job!

When I was traveling outside India, a Catholic priest from India came to meet me.

I asked him, 'Father, how are you?'

He said, 'Swamiji, if any religion wants to flourish, they must come to India. If they want workers, they must come to India. Whether it is Christianity or Hinduism, we can only get them from India! In India, spiritual life is in our blood.'

Whether it is Krishna, Shiva or Christ, living the spiritual life is a basic thing. It is in the blood of the population all across the country! That alone shows we have done a big job.

One more point: In India, ninety-three percent of Christians go to church. Even other religious systems are stronger in India because the root, the understanding of following a higher, spiritual life is in our blood. Indian Christians are more dedicated to their beliefs. Whatever our people believe in spiritually, they are dedicated to that. If we penetrate and see the root, we see that our ancient masters did a tremendous job.

Compared to the volume of people that we are handling, whatever service we do is like mixing asafoetida (an Indian spice) in the ocean!

Somebody asked me, ‘Swamiji, do you think you can change the country by your service? Whatever you do is like mixing asafoetida in the ocean. The smell of the ocean will not change. How can you help the whole world?’

I told him, ‘I don’t know if I can change the whole ocean, but my hand smells beautiful. I am enjoying that. Nothing else can be done.

Q: Respected Swamiji, I am one of the sheep-lion who has forgotten his lion self. Now I want to roar. How?

Just roar, that’s all. There can be no how. The moment you ask how, you forget you are a lion. Just roar. Nothing else needs to be done.

Let us all experience the sincerity and imbibe and experience the truths of Parabrahma Krishna (cosmic Krishna). Let us pray to Him to give us all the sincerity and experience of the truth that He is teaching through the Gita, to all of us, and let Him make us experience and establish ourselves in eternal bliss, nityānanda!

Thus ends the seventeenth chapter named Sraddhātraya Vibhāga Yogaḥ of the Upaniṣad of the Bhagavad Gita, the scripture of Yoga, dealing with the science of the Absolute in the form of the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna.

There is nothing to surrender except the 'I' and 'mine'. Krishna explains how surrender brings the ultimate freedom - Enlightenment.

◆ I believe I am a spiritual person. I have met spiritual masters from whom I have benefited. I seem to be guided by unseen energies. But I am not content to be where I am. I conceive the future and work hard to make that reality. Am I on the right path?

◆ Swamiji, you said that renouncing one's ego is the ultimate step in renunciation and that compassion is the outcome. Please explain how this occurs.

◆ Swamiji, you said that rituals connect us with the cosmic energy. Please explain how.

◆ Surrender of ego is true renunciation. But to surrender you need ego, or something like the mind. Isn't this a conflict?

◆ Swamiji, your disciples say that you burn them. This makes us afraid. What does it mean?

◆ I am a Nithya Spiritual Healer and I meditate regularly. Along with detachment, I find that I become disinclined to do anything. Then I become afraid that I am falling into laziness. What is happening?

◆ Swamiji, education teaches us that we must think through problems to reach a solution. Yet, you say to stop thinking. What then is the point of education?

◆ Krishna says surrender is the route to enlightenment, to reach Him. But doesn't surrender and renunciation mean surrender of the desire to be enlightened as well?

◆ Swamiji, Krishna says to drop attachments and that is the only way. How is this possible?

◆ Swamiji, Krishna says that 'having known Me in essence, one merges in Me' and refers to this as devotion. How can knowledge (jñāna) be devotion (bhakti)?

◆ Swamiji, is the state of surrender that Krishna talks about in Gita the same as your concept of 'unclutching'?

◆ How can we surrender the ego, when this desire to surrender is itself an expression of the ego?

◆ Swamiji, I have not understood how surrender and renunciation can be used as a technique. Please explain.

◆ Why are we afraid to face life?